Tag Archives: Cambridge

Bukowski’s: Nachtotum

1 Feb

If Charles Bukowski was “the laureate of the American lowlife,” then his eponymous bar in Iman Square could be described as “the drinking establishment of the Bostonian fauxlife.”  Lack of a website, a menu full of obscure beers, a beer club that culminates in a mug etched with the name of your favorite dead author, and tight pants, tattoos and flannel as far as the eye can see all contribute to a certain unmistakable hipster aesthetic. Were the nachos also too cool for school?

  • Appearance: (8) How colorful! The artfully drizzled sour cream was also lovely.  Still, naked chips loomed underneath…
  • Quality of Ingredients: (8) The pulled pork was delicious and sauce-heavy, but it clashed somewhat with the salsa and other ingredients (we’ve had this problem before with BBQ on nachos). Black beans were a nice addition, and we remain undecided as to whether the chips were homemade.  We did appreciate the lime-tinged sour cream, a step up from the usual.
  • Distribution of Toppings: (6) These were top-heavy with a lot going on, but an exploratory examination showed profound naked chips under the initial layer of toppings.  We did find an unexpected second layer of cheese in the middle, but by the time we reached it it had already congealed. These nachos ascribed to the “trickle-down” theory of distribution, and in the end the naked chips weren’t so naked as the top ingredients eventually made it down to the lower chips as we ate.
  • Price: (3) $12 for basic nachos, $14 if you want pulled pork, chicken or vegan chili, and a whopping $3 if you want to add guacamole adds up to…a $17 nacho? Egads!  For that price, we’re expecting a behemoth that would put Sunset and Game On to shame, or at least some fancy ingredients
  • Overall: 25/40.  A good effort, but not up there with the big guns.  However, we highly recommend the $7.50 hotdog and PBR combo…

The Friendly Toast: Not So Friendly Nachos

18 Sep

While we like the Friendly Toast, we feel that we would be remiss to not include a disclaimer: think twice about coming here if you are easily overwhelmed or distracted by lots of external stimuli.  The cluttered, kitschy atmosphere is like an episode of A&E’s Hoarders gone almost but not exactly right– an explosion of vintage toys, tchotkches, doo-dads, thinga-a-ma-jigs, posters, sugar bowls, creepy dolls, and anything else one could imagine.  And…this guy, Burger Boy, who with his mustache and sombrero incidentally looks a lot like he belongs in Nacho Patrol:

The nachos were described as “a huge pile of fresh tortilla chips,  jalapeno-jack and cheddar, black olives, cuban beans, salsa, scallions, our avocado-lime sauce and sour cream.”  Were they as much of a sensory overload as their environment? See below:

  • Appearance: (8)  Nice colors, a great contrast to the green plate, with very solid-looking chips.  The “avocado-lime sauce” looked suspiciously like…guacamole, but we kept our minds open.
  • Quality of Ingredients: (5) The chips were indeed delicious and hearty.  The avocado-lime sauce did indeed taste like guacamole, and good guac at that.  Our opinion of the quality takes a nosedive here though, as there was a strange, off-putting, almost metallic taste in either the beans or the salsa.  It tainted the whole plate and our enjoyment of it.
  • Distribution of Toppings: (6) Not the best. Despite the blanket of toppings on top, a fair number of naked chips underneath and the cheese did not do the best job of sticking to them.
  • Price: (5) At $10.75, we found those to be overpriced.
  • Overall: 24/40.  Boring nachos from a not-at-all boring place.  But we are very excited to come back to try their breakfast nachos!

Tavern in the Square Porter: Family Feud

3 Sep

As the mercury rose into the mid-90′s, Tavern in the Square seemed like an excellent place to gratuitously mooch AC…and to engage in our first patrol in our new ‘hood.  But quickly after settling in, our safe haven revealed a more sinister side.  The menu seemed….suspiciously familiar.  Flipping to the back, we realized that the Tavern in the Squares are related to both Joshua Tree and CitySide, which, to put it nicely, are not exactly two of our favorite places.  Despite assurances that the Taverns are a little more upscale, the description of Tavern’s buffalo chicken nachos was IDENTICAL to those found at CitySide– a 7/40 monstrosity that is to date, the worst-rated plate of nachos we have ever tasted.  To say the least, we were skeptical…

  • Appearance: (6) We immediately questioned the structural integrity.  Why piled so high? Why not a bigger plate?  Why so much sour cream? And why the lettuce?? So many question marks, and not enough exclamation points.
  • Quality of Ingredients: (7)Nothing particularly stood out, other than the chips, which were dense, crispy and salty.
  • Distribution of Toppings: (6) We’ve finally found a use for the dreaded shredded lettuce: it makes a barrier against the even more dreaded sour cream hat, and allow for easier removal of the offending condiment!  In other news, there was a lot of cheese but the the tall, packed mass of chips made it near impossible for it to get everywhere.  The chili was on top, making it hard to grab chips without taking them from the bottom and risking collapse, reminding us once again of Jenga!
  • Price: (7)Expectedly overpriced at $12, but still too big for us to finish.
  • Overall: 26/40.  Yet another average nacho.  You may be better off trying some of their more interesting apps.

Dear Tavern in the Square/Joshua Tree/CitySide’s parents: We are seriously disappointed with your offspring.  They are no longer invited over to play.

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